


Drusilla: Parallels and Shadows

by womanaction



Series: Buffy Meta [7]
Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-11-06 11:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11034858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/womanaction/pseuds/womanaction
Summary: Two pieces of meta concerning Drusilla's parallels with Faith and Buffy. Originally posted to Tumblr in 2013-2014.





	1. Dru as Buffy's Other Shadow

Okay, so the most obvious shadow/foil for Buffy is, of course, Faith. We’ve got the palette swap (hair-wise), similar roles, and the whole but-for-the-grace-of-XYZ situation. After Faith’s turn to the Dark Side, Buffy realizes how easily she could have been Faith had she not been grounded by her family, friends, and Watcher. (Other foils for Buffy exist, as well, like Kendra, Cordelia, and even Glory). Yet I think there’s an interesting parallel set up between Drusilla and Buffy.

This connection is most obviously evidenced in BtVS 2x13 “Surprise”, where scenes involving Dru’s party and Buffy’s party are directly paralleled. Similarly, in BtVS 2x14 “Innocence”, the second half of that two-parter, Angel’s separation from Buffy allows his return to Drusilla. She gleefully proclaims that they are “a family again”, the same words she will later use in BtVS 5x14 “Crush” when trying to persuade Spike to return with her to Los Angeles. 

However, a more interesting connection has to do with Drusilla’s insanity. Before becoming a vampire, she had the Sight (AtS 2x7 “Darla”). Deeply religious as a human, she was driven to madness by Angel, who then sired her. Buffy, meanwhile, has had her own brushes with mental unwellness, or at least the perception of such. As revealed in BtVS 6x17 “Normal Again”, she was briefly sent to a psychiatric hospital shortly after she was Called. Like Dru’s visions, her “delusions” were based in reality, albeit a reality outside of the grasp of normal humans. 

When disappointed or angered, Drusilla often breaks down completely as in “Surprise” when the flowers for her party are “not right”. Buffy is, of course, more stable, but she goes into a similar state in BtVS 5x20 “Spiral” after Dawn is taken by Glory. It is very difficult to reach either Drusilla or Buffy when they go into this emotionally comatose state; Spike and Willow, respectively, manage it in the aforementioned episodes, but Willow can only achieve this through magical intervention.

Drusilla and Buffy also share Spike as a love interest, and although it is difficult to compare their relationships, some similarities still arise. Both Drusilla and Buffy loved Angel first, a sure source of insecurity for Spike. While Drusilla adores Spike’s monstrous qualities, his humanity eventually proves too noxious to her (BtVS 3x8 “Lovers Walk”); meanwhile, before Spike regains his soul, Buffy regards him as too much of a monster for her to ever love (BtVS 6x13 “Dead Things”). In both cases, a comparison results with Angel(us) - Spike is too “human” (as the Judge says in “Surprise”) for Drusilla but still obviously vampiric (unlike ensouled!Angel).

In temperament, too, there are interesting contrasts between Drusilla and Buffy. Whereas Buffy worries in BtVS 5x18 “Intervention” that “being the Slayer is turning [her] to stone” and making her into a machine, Drusilla depends entirely upon emotion to make her decisions. As she tells Spike in “Crush”, she doesn’t “believe in science…all those bits and pieces no one’s ever seen” and “[relies] on eyes and heart alone”. 


	2. Second Chances: Faith as Drusilla 2.0

I have [previously written about Drusilla and Buffy’s parallels](http://womanaction.tumblr.com/post/71322996277/dru-as-buffys-other-shadow). However, the Buffyverse thrives on parallels, some explicitly brought to our attention (e.g. Spike and Giles, Willow and Warren, Buffy and Darla) and those that are more subtextual. Therefore, I wanted to write a little piece on Faith and Drusilla and their treatment within the text, especially in relation to Angel(us).

Angel(us) is very family-oriented, regardless of his current soul state. As the human Liam, he seemed to have been in constant conflict with his parents. As the vampire Angel(us), his relationships are similarly fraught - especially those with his children, both literal (Connor) and figurative (William/Spike). His lovers, particularly Buffy and Darla, are also part of his family, and both of these women function as mother figures as well. Darla mothered Liam/Angelus, physically siring him, and Drusilla’s constant reference to her as “grandmother” reflects that bizarre family dynamic. Freud would have a field day. When Angel(us) regains his soul, this incestuous style does not cease. Although Buffy is much younger than him, he sees her as his reason for rebirth, the cause of his goodness. After he loses his soul in their lovemaking, Angel(us) remarks that she made him feel human. Darla made him a vampire, Buffy made him (feel like) a human. 

Another incestuous dynamic is present between Angel(us) and his daughter/lover Drusilla. Unlike Liam, who willingly accepted Darla’s offer of eternity, Drusilla is plundered by Angel(us). She actively resists him, wishing to remain pure and human, but that (in addition to her visions) draws him to her even more. After he regains his soul, he seems ashamed for the torture he inflicted on Drusilla and the damage he did to her soul, mind, and body. However, he does not attempt to make reparations to her. This is similar to his attitude towards his grandchilde, Spike, although their similarly incestuous relationship was complicated by other conflicts. 

So what is the connection between Faith and Drusilla? To begin with the obvious, Drusilla is the cause of Faith’s supernatural Slayer abilities. In killing Kendra, Drusilla caused the next Potential to be called to Slayerhood. Faith, like Drusilla, had no choice in her change. Moreover, Faith’s transformation can be traced back to Angel(us), both directly (his plan to capture Giles was the reason Drusilla attacked Kendra in the first place) and indirectly (his childe provoked her calling). We know that Drusilla was plagued by visions before she was sired by Angel(us), but that she was also a “pure” person undamaged by the trauma Angel(us) caused her. Similarly, while Faith was obviously troubled before being called, she soon suffered the traumas of losing her Watcher and of accidentally killing a human. 

Both Faith and Drusilla are willing to play into the family dynamics Angel(us) depends on, as well. Drusilla incessantly refers to him as “daddy”, which obviously delights him. Faith had a different evil paternal figure in the Mayor, and when she awoke from her coma to discover he had been killed by Buffy, she became even more unstable. As with Drusilla, Faith responds to her traumatic experiences with a kind of joyful violence. However, Faith is troubled by her own actions because she retains her soul. After torturing Wesley, stealing Buffy’s body, and killing several humans, Faith finally breaks down in front of Angel and begins her quest for redemption. This is the moment that their paths reflect Angel’s determination to earn his own redemption.

Drusilla is, at least in Angel’s eyes, beyond saving. She has lost her soul and has become “insane” due to the things he inflicted upon her. Faith, on the other hand, comes to Angel when she is broken. He took the purity, happiness and clarity from Drusilla; in Faith, he sees his opportunity to restore all of these things. While he had enjoyed and encouraged Darla’s torture of Drusilla, he actually protects Faith from Buffy when she comes to Los Angeles. Angel chooses his paternal role over his role as a lover, both in his rejection of Buffy’s authority and in his enforced platonic relationship with Faith. While his passionate behavior towards Faith when he was pretending to have lost his soul was realistic enough to trouble Buffy, after he appoints himself as her caretaker and friend he treats her very neutrally, avoiding physical contact. Angel seems aware of the parallels between Drusilla and Faith, and his behavior towards Faith reflects his regret and shame regarding Drusilla. 


End file.
